Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Artificers
The phrase "ghost in the machine" is a rusted-out cliché when it comes to Inhabit, but if the
Pagani Zonda fits, wear it. This venerable Arcanos allows a wraith to immerse his
consciousness and form within an inanimate object, gaining increasing control over its
operations and fate as his prowess increases. Masters of Inhabit can command machinery with a
touch or imbue simple relics with the power of Artifacts.
Before the Arcanoi, there was soulforging. Nhudri, Charon's first and most trusted councilor,
brought the secrets of hammer and flame out of the Labyrinth. Upon his disciples' forges was
Stygia wrought – and out of their work came Inhabit. By its nature, soulforging transcends
mere physical process, requiring a quasi-mystic empathy for the material's personality and
properties. As Nhudri and his apprentices refined their techniques, they also explored their
growing affinity for the form and energies of mortal engines. Inhabit is the best-known result of
these experiments. Modern Artificers learn it separately from soulforging, though some of its
ancient arts still highlight its origins.
Guildmarks
Artificers accrue wear and tear mimicking that of the objects they Inhabit. Those who prefer
simple objects or physical machinery manifest scuff marks and gouges, smell of exhaust and hot
metal, and seep lubricant from under their fingernails. Circuit patterns flicker under the skin of
wraiths with a more digital bent, while running error logs of their internal dialogues with their
Shadows scroll across their eyes.
Soulforging leaves its own residue on its tradeswraiths, and uninformed Stygian citizens often
mistake these for Inhabit's guildmarks. Apprentices are scorched and charred from the forges.
Longer-serving smiths take on some of the forges' own aspects, patches of their forms glowing
with dull red heat. Smiths of the guild wear an additional unique token that they forge as a rite
of passage and a reminder of their trade's true cost: a coin hammered from one of their own
hands.
The Guild
The Artificers' Guild is the modern incarnation of Stygia's oldest trade organization. As Charon
drove Stygian expansion in its early centuries, Nhudri took on a trio of apprentices to satisfy the
demand for tools and construction materials. These three legendary figures taught other wraiths
the arts of soulforging and Inhabit, eventually giving rise to the Society of the Hammer. As
Stygia emulated mortal feudal systems, so too did the Society, restyling itself as the Artificers'
Guild.
The Artificers' monopoly on soulforging was always the key to its wealth and political power.
Vital to the Underworld's economy, the guild enjoyed a strong symbiosis with the Stygian power
structure. Its claim to the mantle of Eldest Guild gave it similar pull with its nominal peers –
though Artificer heavy-handedness also aroused envy and contempt. This fueled the War of the
Guilds, and the Artificers displayed unexpected finesse by emerging from this conflict not only
undiminished but at the head of the Council of Guilds.
The postwar years were the Artificers’ high-water mark. Masterforgers enjoyed power and
prestige second only to the Deathlords', spurring the hubris that drove their fatal overreach in
1598. The failed rebellion cost the Artificers many leaders and shattered their monopoly on
soulforging, as lower-ranking fugitives traded service or lessons for protection from Stygia's
wrath. Over subsequent centuries, gradual reconciliation with the authorities allowed the guild
to reforge many of its old customs and rites. Recognizing that they can't soulforge the genie into
its own bottle, the guild's leaders grudgingly tolerate non-Artificer smiths, but any smith who
doesn't wear the coin quickly learns the social cost of crossing the Eldest Guild.
Under the rule of the Council of Masters, the Artificers remain Stygia's most conservative guild.
Not all Masterforgers are active on the Council, but each one has a voice and a vote when he
chooses to exercise it. Most focus on traditional arts; few specialists in electronics, let alone
data, have been admitted to their ranks. Beneath the Masterforgers are Journeymen, those
wraiths skilled enough to earn their own forges, and Apprentices who are still learning their craft.
Modern guild customs superficially resemble labor union practices, though under the surface are
a hundred secret societies and Nhudri-venerating mystery cults.
[ EDITOR: "MASTERFORGERS" IS A FORMAL TITLE WITHIN THE GUILD AND
SHOULD REMAIN ONE WORD. "JOURNEYMAN" AND "APPRENTICE" ARE
SIMILAR TITLES AND ARE CAPITALIZED. ]
Factions
Though not what it was before the Breaking, Artificer unity remains proverbial. The guild drills
loyalty unto soulforging into every apprentice. Having said that, political differences and
diverging specializations have yielded some internal divisions. Hammerboys specialize in
soulforging, while Wrenchwraiths are masters of Inhabiting machinery. Wraiths who Inhabit
Internet-connected devices and ride the infosphere tend to eschew labels, though older Artificers
have several nicknames for them (none complimentary). Ghostriders are a Wrenchwraith subset
whose domain is transportation infrastructure; they enjoy close ties with the Harbingers.
Artificers who possess machinery for mischievous or malevolent purposes are termed Gremlins.
Inhabit Systems
If an object is destroyed while a wraith is Inhabiting it, he's ejected from the item's remains and
suffers one level of lethal damage.
If a wraith is attuned to an object (see p. XX), his Inhabit rolls against that item are at -2
difficulty.
Unless otherwise specified, only one wraith at a time can Inhabit an object. If an Artificer
attempts to Inhabit something that already contains another wraith, the current occupant's
successes cancel the interloper's on a one-for-one basis. If the Artificer wins anyway, the initial
occupant is ejected from the object and suffers bashing damage equal to the Artificer's net
successes.
Each use of Inhabit on another wraith's Fetter grants the Artificer's Shadow 1 temporary Angst.
•• Misfire (Modern)
By passing his hand through a mechanical or electronic device, the wraith may cause a
temporary malfunction. Gears jam, combustion falters, electricity shorts out or surges, and
complex electronics throw error messages or reboot themselves. Simple machines are
unaffected; a target must have moving parts or run on electrical power to be susceptible to
Misfire.
System: The player spends 1 Pathos and rolls Strength + Inhabit (difficulty 6). The target
device is disabled for one turn per success. The operator may attempt to fix the problem with a
roll of Wits + an appropriate Ability (Storyteller's discretion; difficulty 6); each success removes
one of the wraith's successes.